Kettle in a car?

LongLensPhotography

LongLensPhotography

Th..th..that's all folks!
Suspended / Banned
Messages
18,695
Name
LongLensPhotography
Edit My Images
No
Possible or crazy?

I have a 12V to 240V adapter and a spare kettle and sometimes wouldn't mind to some tea in a remote location. Would this totally drain the battery or is it doable? Or are there alternatives?
 
A flask? :shrug:


Not being funny like! :)

But a flask of boiled water, bring your tea-bags, a spoon and a wee container for milk and sugar. That's what we did anytime we went fishing.
 
Last edited:
The ones we used were those old plastic ones, usually with a tartan design on side :D They did leak now and then. But unless the seal was knackered, should stay hot.

I'd say they're a lot better these days? Surely. I see people use those metal coffee flasks, the mini ones. Must be larger versions?
 
I used to have one, specifically designed for in car use. It clipped onto something so that I wouldn't get scalded in an accident, so was pretty safe.

The name of the game was to set it going when the satnav said I would arrive in 15 minutes, because that's how long it took to boil, and driving while boiling meant that the battery wasn't affected.
 
most car inverters don't have the wattage to boil a kettle although you can get low wattage kettles.
 
I always used a camping stove, never went anywhere without tea making facilities!!
 
That's what I was thinking. Kettles are like, 3000w or something. At least fast boil ones. Way to burn down your battery life.

Just to add: on the thermos flask I linked, the reviewers say they had still boiling water after 6hrs+
 
Last edited:
Preheating the thermos also helps. Years ago you use to be able to buy coffee in a can. They'd be a capsule you'd press on the bottom which would cause the can to heat. I always use to keep a couple in the glovebox
 
I use a thermos for work, fill it with boiling water for 10min empty that out and fill again, depending on what flask (I use Stanley) mine is still hot the next morning if I don't use all of the water.

Why would a kettle drain car battery,surely the way to go would be to have the car running whilst you boil kettle ;-)???
 
How powerful is your inverter? 3000w inverters cost around £200 and are big in size. Your average converter is only going to be around 75-200w so no where near powerful enough for a kettle.
As already said you can get 12v kettles but they take 15mins boil.
 
Cagey75 said:
That's what I was thinking. Kettles are like, 3000w or something. At least fast boil ones. Way to burn down your battery life.

Just to add: on the thermos flask I linked, the reviewers say they had still boiling water after 6hrs+
Click to expand...

You wouldn't get as far as draining your battery, unless you linked straight to the battery with some chunky wiring, it's just blow a fuse as most car wiring isn't designed for the huge draw a normal kettle would produce. Of course, a proper heavy duty inverter wired into the car would provide an expensive solution, but that's taking it to an extreme.

Had this conversation with a friend yesterday who had one of those things that plugs into the 12v cigarette lighter and converts it to something you can plug a normal 3 pin wall plug into. Fine for charging a phone, laptop, camera battery etc, anything much bigger will blow a fuse (or melt the wiring!).
 
Last edited:
What about a small hiking/camping stove? Simple solution and meets your requirements. Coffee is - sort of - drinkable out of a flask but I prefer freshly boiled water for tea.
 
what abut something like this ?

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/7406267.htm?CMPID=GS001&_$ja=cgid:7387747142|tsid:41408|cid:130173182|lid:46591615727|nw:g|crid:27922343702|rnd:18381507781531087476|dvc:c|adp:1o1

then a small travel kettle
 
Cagey75 said:
That's what I was thinking. Kettles are like, 3000w or something. At least fast boil ones. Way to burn down your battery life.
Click to expand...

3000W at 12V is 250A, assuming the inverter is 100% efficient. It won't burn down the battery, it might burn down the car due to the wiring catching fire though.

People (that should not be allowed to operate anything powered by electricity) might say that you could just wire the 12v side of inverter to the car with normal mains flex like the kettle in your house "because it's still powering a kettle so uses the same power." That indicates a pretty massive understanding fail of electricity and probably explains why the evil that is part P was introduced.
 
you can get in car kettles - but if you use one a lot without the enngine running it will flatten your battery - just run the engine while it boils and jobs a goodun
 
Trangia stove, problem solved.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top